SINGAPORE - Some 950,000 households living in Housing Board flats will receive their quarterly Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher - U-Save rebates this month.
This is the sixth tranche of payment in the current fiscal year, which will end on March 31. The payments are meant to help lower- and middle-income families amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eligible households should have received three tranches of the quarterly payout, in April, July and October last year, with amounts varying according to the HDB flat type they live in.
They should also have received two special payments, in April and July. This was announced by the Government in its Budget statement last year, to provide more help to families.
Together, the four regular and two special payments amount to $460 million, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Saturday (Jan 1).
This month, those living in one- or two-room flats will receive $95. Those living in three-room flats will get $85, while people living in four-room flats will receive $75 and those in five-room flats will get $65.
Those living in executive or multi-generation flats will receive $55.
Households with any member owning more than one property remain ineligible under the GST voucher- U-Save scheme.
MOF said on Saturday that with the greater payout this financial year, the average household living in a one- or two-room flat should receive rebates equivalent to about four-and-a-half to six months of their utility bills.
Those living in three- or four-room flats should get rebates equivalent to about one-and-a-half to three months of their utility bills.
The total amount of rebates received for the fiscal year 2021 ranges from $355 to $595, depending on the HDB flat type.
GST Voucher began as a permanent scheme in 2012 to help lower- and middle-income Singaporeans offset some of their GST expenses. It is made up of three components - cash, MediSave and U-Save.
In the fiscal year 2020, the Government disbursed $630 million through the scheme, including special payments.
These rebates included additional transfers to support households through the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
